Skate-lifestyle brand Vans recently announced Mandeville, La.'s Fontainebleau High School as its winner of the 12th-annual Custom Culture High School competition. 
Photo: Vans

Skate-lifestyle brand Vans recently announced Mandeville, La.'s Fontainebleau High School as its winner of the 12th-annual Custom Culture High School competition. Photo: Vans

FASHION COMPETITION

Vans Announces Winner of Custom Culture High School Competition

For its 12th-annual Vans Custom Culture High School competition, the skate-lifestyle brand chose designs created by students from Fontainebleau High School in Mandeville, La. as the winning creations. The contest's origins lie in the company's dedication to inspire and empower students to embrace their potential in design, as art-education budgets decrease.

From a pool of more than 1,000 schools that entered the contest, Fontainebleau was chosen as the recipient of a grand prize of $50,000 that will benefit its art program. Four runners up—Secaucus High School in Secaucus, N.J.; Edison High School in San Antonio, Texas; Cedar Hill High School in Cedar Hill, Texas; and Temple City High School in Temple City, Calif.—were awarded $15,000 each to benefit their art programs. These winners will also receive mentorship from a Vans' art ambassadors such as Kelly Breez, Robin Eisenberg, Jay Howell, Todd Francis, Olivia Krause, Camilo Medina, Noah Humes, O.J. Hays, Tony Whlgn, or Sydney James.

“Congratulations to Fontainebleau High School and all the schools that entered this year's competition. Creativity took on a whole new meaning this year as students were forced inside. The problem-solving and innovation shown by teachers and students to come together to create these wonderful designs is truly inspiring,” Carly Gomez, Vans vice president of marketing for The Americas, said. “Reviewing this year's submissions from bright young artists across the country [was] tougher than ever and a true testament to the importance and power of creativity even while we were all physically apart this past year.”

The themes of this most-recent contest were “Hometown Pride” and “Head in the Clouds,” which students used to design their own Vans pieces through physical and digital submissions. Vans collaborated on the competition with partners including Scholarship America and Yoobi, the art-supply provider that provided gift cards to participating schools. Additionally, Journeys provided gift cards to all participating students.